A two-game sweep of the NHL schedule from Wednesday starts in Columbus where the Blue Jackets held a 2-0 lead over the Montreal Canadiens at the nine-minute mark of the third period.
Then the Habs responded with three power goals in just under four minutes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
“Power play was big topic this week,” Max Pacioretty said. “We talked about in the media. We talked about it in the room.”
Sergei Bobrovsky had 28 saves in the loss but played well throughout the game.
“He played a great game,” Pacioretty said. “We knew we needed a good bounce to start putting them in on that goalie. He was playing out of his mind, especially early. He’s a great goalie, one of the best in the league.”
After the game, Columbus’ Brandon Dubinsky took the blame for the loss for a penalty leading to Pacioretty’s second goal.
“No one can point fingers at anyone but myself,” Dubinsky said. “It was just a stupid penalty. It was the wrong time of the game. It wasn’t my intention to put the team shorthanded but we’ve got to know better. I’ve got to know better. I’ve got to hold myself accountable.
“The goal before that, it’s a faceoff in our zone. Eleven seconds left (in the penalty). I’ve got to win the draw too.”
There was plenty of blame to go around for the Blue Jackets’ loss.
“It’s penalties. We took three, two in the offensive zone; the last with five minutes to go,” Columbus coach Todd Richards said. “The last one was not good.
“It’s tough to compare (the loss) to other ones. It’s disappointing. This one bothers me the way we fought really hard to lose this game.”
In Washington, Braden Holtby started his 20th consecutive match and used 21 saves to blank the Philadelphia Flyers, 1-0.
“It was a great win, 1-0, we’ll take those wins,” said Capitals forward Jason Chimera, whose goal 3:13 into the game stood up as the winner. “[Holtby], you can’t say enough about the guy. He’s awesome.”
The Caps are 14-2-4 in their last 20 games and are within three points of the New York Islanders.
“I thought we were a little bit loose at times,” Caps coach Barry Trotz said. “I thought we relied on Braden a little bit too much. … When we needed a good save or [penalty kill], I thought Braden was real solid for us.”
Lehigh Valley Phantoms call-up, goaltender Rob Zepp made 25 saves for the Flyers in the loss.
“We knew it was going to be a tight game against them,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. “They’ve done a good job this year of getting those games when it’s tight. We pressured pretty hard at the end to [try] and get that tying goal. … I think we did a good job of getting our chances, but at the end we need to make sure it goes in the net.”
The Caps next test will be Friday against the Nashville Predators.
“I know the Nashville group will be ramped up and the crowd will be ramped up,” Trotz said. “I spent a lot of years there. It’ll probably be a little emotional. When I left there, they were nothing but first class, not a typical parting of the ways, if you will.
“Nashville became my home and still is to this point just because my family’s there and I’ve got some many friends there. I’m going to try to go low-key, as low as I can. I don’t blend in very well there. It might be a little more difficult.”
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